CaaC (John)

Aye and the movie, memories from the past and it was a spin-off from the film.

A phone call yesterday afternoon from our daughter, wee Kaidens Nintendo Switch is fucked and not working, he has had it for a few years now and it stopped loading games so it was the 'Never fear, grannie & grandad are here' mode came into action, got him a new one from my Argos account, cost over £200 nicker but I could not give a fuck and will class it as one of his Christmas prezzies and it arrived last night around 8 ish so they will pop around sometime this morning to pick it up, its nice to be wanted as a grannie & grandad.

Lovely yesterday morning watching Aussie Rules live and my Carlton take on Essendon and beating them by a point, lovely because my brother-in-law is an Essendon supporter and I found out he was gutted and calling me all the names under the sun. Essendon 8-3-51 Carlton 7-10-52

Move it into his Ladies Feet thread

Giant wombat-like creatures, the size of black bears, once walked the earth Scientists from the University of Salford discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton collected on an expedition during the 1970s. London (CNN) - A wombat like a creature the size of a black bear and weighing 330 pounds, roamed the earth some 25 million years ago, scientists have discovered. A team led by researchers from the University of Salford in the UK discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton that had been collected from Lake Pinpa, in northeastern South Australia, on an expedition during the 1970s. 'Crazy beast' fossil discovery shows the evolutionary weirdness of early mammals Researchers named the animal "Mukupirna," meaning "big bones" in Dieri and Malyangapa, the indigenous languages spoken in the region of South Australia where the fossil was first discovered. A team led by researchers from the University of Salford in the UK discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton that had been collected from Lake Pinpa, in northeastern South Australia, on an expedition during the 1970s. Researchers named the animal "Mukupirna," meaning "big bones" in Dieri and Malyangapa, the indigenous languages spoken in the region of South Australia where the fossil was first discovered. In a paper published in Scientific Reports on Thursday, researchers confirmed that the mammal belonged to a new family of marsupials -- mammals characterized by premature birth and the continued development of the newborn while latched to the nipples on the mother's lower belly. From studying the creature's fossilized teeth, bones and cranium, experts concluded that the animal, which would have weighed up to 330 pounds, would have engaged in "scratch-digging" but was unlikely to have burrowed. From studying the creature's fossilized teeth, bones and cranium, experts concluded that the animal, which would have weighed up to 330 pounds, would have engaged in "scratch-digging" but was unlikely to have burrowed. "It is surprisingly large, particularity for that time period," lead author Robin Beck, from the University of Salford, told CNN. "It was one of the largest animals in Australia at that time." Beck said that while the creatures most closely resemble wombats, they were about five times the size. Scientists studied how body size has evolved in vombatiforms -- the group that includes Mukupirna, wombats, koalas and their fossil relatives -- and found that body weights of 220 pounds or more evolved at least six times over the past 25 million years. The largest known vombatifom, named "Diprotodon," weighed more than 2 tonnes and survived until approximately 50,000 years ago. "About 23 million years ago, the environment changed to become more like a rainforest in Australia, and so there were environmental changes that possibly may have driven it extinct," he suggested. "Mukupirna reveals a fascinating mix of characteristics and provides evidence of a close link between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids," report co-author Pip Brewer, of London's Natural History Museum, added in a statement. "It suggests that adaptations for digging for food may have existed in the very earliest members of the wombat family and likely led to their eventual survival to the present day. Although suggested previously, it had not been possible to test this, as the oldest fossil wombats discovered are only known from teeth and a few skull fragments," Brewer said. "About 23 million years ago, the environment changed to become more like a rainforest in Australia, and so there were environmental changes that possibly may have driven it extinct," he suggested. "Mukupirna reveals a fascinating mix of characteristics and provides evidence of a close link between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids," report co-author Pip Brewer, of London's Natural History Museum, added in a statement. "It suggests that adaptations for digging for food may have existed in the very earliest members of the wombat family and likely led to their eventual survival to the present day. Although suggested previously, it had not been possible to test this, as the oldest fossil wombats discovered are only known from teeth and a few skull fragments," Brewer said. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/25/australia/giant-wombat-intl-scli-scn/index.html

How one teaspoon of Amazon soil teems with fungal life A teaspoon of soil from the Amazon contains as many as 1,800 microscopic life forms, of which 400 are fungi. Largely invisible and hidden underground, the "dark matter" of life on Earth has "amazing properties", which we're just starting to explore, say, scientists. The vast majority of the estimated 3.8 million fungi in the world have yet to be formally classified. Yet, fungi are surprisingly abundant in soil from Brazil's Amazon rainforest. To help protect the Amazon rainforest, which is being lost at an ever-faster rate, it is essential to understand the role of fungi, said a team of researchers led by Prof Alexandre Antonelli, director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. "Take a teaspoon of soil and you will find hundreds or thousands of species," he said. "Fungi are the next frontier of biodiversity science." Fungi are usually neglected in inventories of biodiversity, being inconspicuous and largely hidden underground. Fewer than 100 types of fungi have been evaluated for the IUCN Red List, compared with more than 25,000 plants and 68,000 animals. The secret life of fungi: Ten fascinating facts Pollution hits fungi that nourish trees - study Fungi in soil from tropical countries are particularly poorly understood. To find out about soil from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, researchers collected samples of soil and leaf litter from four regions. Genetic analysis revealed hundreds of different fungi, including lichen, fungi living on the roots of plants, and fungal pathogens, most of which are unknown or extremely rare. Most species have yet to be named and investigated. Areas of naturally open grasslands, known as Campinas, were found to be the richest habitat for fungi overall, where they may help the poorer soil take up nutrients. Understanding soil diversity is critical in conservation actions to preserve the world's most diverse forest in a changing world, said Dr Camila Ritter of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. "For this, we need to put below-ground biodiversity on the agenda for future conservation action plans," she said. Fungi are essential for recycling nutrients and regulating carbon dioxide levels, as well as being a source of food and medicines. Yet, some species have a darker side; devastating trees, crops and other plants across the world, and wiping out animals such as amphibians. The research, by teams in the UK, Brazil, Germany, Sweden and Estonia, is published in the journal, Ecology and Evolution. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53197650

Just read through a thread I created when I first joined and wanted to know how to insert images and gfs etc and @nudge, @Stan and others guided me through the procedures. https://talkfootball365.com/topic/6314-videosphoto/

This?

First Viking ship excavation in a century begins in Norway Archaeologists in Norway have begun the first excavation of a Viking ship in more than a century. The vessel was discovered in a burial site in Gjellestad in the south-east of the country two years ago. Although it is believed to be in poor condition, the find remains significant as only three other well-preserved Viking ships have been discovered in the country. The excavation is expected to last five months. How a climate crisis helped shape Norse mythology Knut Paasche, an expert from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research said that only part of the ship's timber appeared to have been preserved, but added that modern techniques could allow archaeologists to discover its original shape. The ship, which is about 20m (65ft) long, was discovered by experts using ground-penetrating radar in 2018. A large number of burial mounds and longhouses were also found at the same time. "The Gjellestad ship is a discovery of outstanding national and international importance," Norway's Culture Minister Sveinung Rotevatn said, according to the AFP news agency. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53204948

A Spurs friend of ours from Oslo, Norway, sent this one his Timeline, it got me and the wife going thinking it was good news on the baby front until we clicked read more...

@Harry, I can see the photo now, can you?

Is that you you look a right Dick.

Nope, all I got AGAIN was...?

This sounds like the fiasco at United when Jose asked a similar request for Woodward, and the response sounds similar from Levy. Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has told chairman Daniel Levy he wants five new signings this summer - but Spurs will have to focus on loan deals and free agents. (90min)

Lovely, pissing down outside and the wife scared to fuck as she hates thunder & lightning and there is plenty of that.

Our son came in from his night shift job-wise and slung this down in front of me with a big cats grin on his face and said "I will be ordering a new Liverpool top later you old fart" then headed off to his room to catch up on the Merseyside celebrations from last night and this morning....Grrrrrrrrr

Liverpool win Premier League title: Why a 30-year wait seemed unthinkable "Liverpool are champions again and it is difficult to see what will prevent the same words being written again this time next year." This is not the final verdict on Liverpool's relentless march to a first Premier League title. They are this reporter's words in the Liverpool Daily Post on Monday, 30 April 1990, two days after the Reds had secured their 18th league crown with a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers at Anfield. It was the last time they would celebrate such a success for three decades. No-one, least of all those in Anfield's cramped old press box, would realise how different life would soon be for the newly crowned champions, managed by Kenny Dalglish and boasting iconic figures such as Alan Hansen, Ian Rush and John Barnes. The crowd was a less-than-capacity 37,758. It was a routine occurrence and reporting on this sort of occasion had also become a matter of course for a very young chief football writer covering Everton and Liverpool. FULL REPORT

Our son has tears of lager dripping from his mouth and taking the piss out of me.

I love a walk in a forest, did a lot of bushwalking in Australia when I was growing up but nothing like above, beautiful shots, the best of the best for me was in my army days on exercise in the Black Forrest South-West Germany.

Mary Jackson: Nasa to name HQ after first black female engineer Nasa is to name its headquarters in Washington DC after its first black female engineer, Mary Jackson. Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine said Jackson had helped to break down barriers for African Americans and women in engineering and technology. The story of Mary Jackson was told in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. Born in Hampton, Virginia, she died in 2005. Last year, Nasa renamed the street outside its headquarters as Hidden Figures Way. "Hidden no more, we will continue to recognise the contributions of women, African Americans, and people of all backgrounds who have made Nasa's successful history of exploration possible," Mr Bridenstine said in a statement. How Nasa hired its first black women 'computers' "Mary W Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped Nasa succeed in getting American astronauts into space," Mr Bridenstine added. "Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology." The move comes at a time of introspection across the US about historical injustices suffered by African Americans. The recent death in police custody of George Floyd triggered protests around the world and renewed demands for an end to institutional racism. Nasa began recruiting some college-educated African American women in the 1940s as "human computers", but they experienced both racial and gender discrimination at work. Mary Jackson was recruited in 1951 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics which was succeeded by Nasa in 1958. She worked under Dorothy Vaughan - whose story was also told in Hidden Figures - in the segregated West Area Computing Unit at Langley, Virginia. Jackson died in 2005 and in 2019 she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Her daughter, Carolyn Lewis, said the family was honoured that Nasa was continuing to celebrate Mary Jackson's legacy. "She was a scientist, humanitarian, wife, mother, and trailblazer who paved the way for thousands of others to succeed, not only at Nasa, but throughout this nation," she said. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53177623

It's nice seeing wee Kaidens smiling face again close up and nattering away, I got him one of these Roblox toys for his visit today and he was over the moon.

That's exactly what our son said, why the fuck did they decide to open them on a weekend and a lot of people who don't have weekend work will go out on a 2-day bender just to get pissed, it would have been better starting it off on a Monday and let people ease their way in as they had work the next day.

Science & Environment Britain's 'blindingly cool' engineering innovation Ted Humble-Smith is a conceptual still-life photographer. He's well known for his fashion work. Ted can take a lipstick or a watch and with his extraordinary vision and skill turn the beautiful into something even more gorgeous. But speak to him for just a few minutes and it's clear he sees not just the colour and form of his subjects, but the engineering that underpins their design. In fact, it's obvious Ted has a passion for it. He points to the 4-inch stiletto heel. "Everyone laughs when I talk about it," he told me. "But you have this thing that's so elegant, so beautiful - and yet at the same time, there has to be some serious engineering and mathematics in there as well. "Eight stones at least is going through a square centimetre. These are big loads but you rarely see people snap their heels these days." Ted has just put his inquisitive eye to a project for the Royal Academy of Engineering. He's produced a series of images to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MacRobert Award, which honours examples of remarkable British innovation. From the aerodynamic design of the Severn Bridge to the composite wing of an Airbus jet. FULL REPORT AND MORE PHOTOS

Just carry on as per normal without any restrictions, will be able to see family and friends again with the easing up of the lockdown, it's our daughters Birthday today and she is coming across with wee Kaiden shortly for some eats and some wine, it's nice being able to sit next to them again.